Major setback for Navan"s Leinster League title bid

The bitter wind that blew in from the Dublin mountains on Sunday did more than turn this Leinster League Div 1 game into a scrappy, disjointed affair. It also helped to put a spanner in the works as far as Navan were concerned and their push for the title. 'Kilgobbet Park, the home of rugby in Dun Laoghaire' reads the sign at the side of the pitch where this latest contest between these two sides took place. Completely open Kilgobbet Park, which is a public area, offers absolutely no refuge from the weather and it was a venue where Navan players found little solace after suffering their first league defeat of the season. To rub it in, Navan didn"t even get a consolation point for losing by less than seven while Seapoint bagged a bonus for scoring four tries. Neck and neck at the top of the league, the two teams are now set to slug it out for the title. Navan play Garda and Enniscorthy in their last two fixtures. Seapoint, a point behind, take on Cill Dara (away) and Skerries (home). Seapoint needed to win this game and they did just that with the gale-force, arctic wind, helping them carve out three second-half tries that left the visitors reeling. In recent games, the Balreask Old side have played in fits and starts yet still managed to keep their winning streak going. This time around they were unable to raise their standards sufficiently to claim victory after trailing 6-11 at the break. Little went right for Navan and this shortage of luck, added to a string of errors, deprived them of any chance they had of returning home with the win that would have ensured the title. Navan were not helped by an injury picked up by Karl Manning just before the interval as this left the team without a player who could conjure up something out of nothing. However, even before he shipped the knock he didn"t have one of his better days, something he shared with most of his colleagues. Only Bernard Smyth, Ryan Roberts and Paul Feeney were among the few Navan players to impress. All Navan"s scores came from the trusty boot of Roberts who displayed some superb kicking skills throughout. His three penalties were skilfully drilled over, two of them from distance. He also got away some long, relieving clearances from defensive positions. Maybe it was the elements that put them off, maybe it was the pressure that went with the occasion or simply the fact that Seapoint played with a purpose and conviction that proved impossible to contain. Whatever the reason, Navan must pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get in the right frame of mind for their remaining two matches. Seapoint look to be a team on a roll and they will be difficult to stop. While Navan were solid enough in the set-pieces, they conceded too much at the breakdown. On a number of occasions Navan players brought the ball into contact, only for possession to be coughed up. Seapoint were very good at getting to the breakdown quickly and in numbers and the shortage of quick ball was one of the reasons why Navan struggled to get their backs moving in a way that might have posed problems for the opposition defence. So adept at moving the ball through the phases in previous outings, Navan were unable to recycle often enough as Seapoint slowed the ball up, often living on the edge. Sometimes they were penalised, sometimes they escaped. Discipline also proved to be a issue for Navan on this occasion with two players sent to the sin bin, Brad Harris in the first-half and David King in the closing stages. The home side certainly made hay while both players were left to cool their heels on the sideline. Harris was sent packing on the half-hour mark and he was just off the field two minutes when Seapoint scored from their second penalty of the day to go 6-3 up. On the stroke of half-time it got worse for his team when a sweeping Seapoint move ended with their full-back Rory O"Connor discovering a gaping gap in the Navan defence for the first try of the game. Out-half Brian Keegan sent over the conversion. Just four minutes into the second-half Seapoint took a decisive step towards their objective when they moved the ball swiftly to the wings and Stephen Verso went over in the corner. The conversion was missed. Navan"s challenge completely imploded on 62 minutes when a Conor Brady pass was intercepted by Phil Bulger who had a clear run to the line. Again Keegan converted. King was in the sin bin by the time some relentless pressure by Seapoint resulted in their number eight Johnny Walsh scoring from a touchdown. Keegan"s conversion was a formality. Navan were left to ponder where it all went wrong in the freezing wind. Seapoint - R O"Connor, C Byrne, P Bulger, K Casey, S Brady, B Keegan, S Roberts; M O"Connor, A Ronan, P Kelly, D Doyle, S Flood, S Verso, S Walsh, J Walsh. Navan - K Manning, A Hickey, S Donnelly, M Harrington, S Hogan, R Roberts, K Mattson; E Dunne, J Baker, D King, B Harris, J Duffy, P Feeney, S Dawson, B Smyth. Subs - M McAuley for Manning, E Hanratty for Dunne, C Brady for Baker, T Clarke for Dawson, E Dunne for Harris.